Space Travel’s Mental Health Toll Could Endanger Long Missions

(NEW SCIENTIST) – ISOLATION, radiation and other dangers could interact to pose a major risk to mental and physical health on long space missions, according to the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

The academies regularly review NASA’s research on how being in space affects health. Their latest report looks at eight recent studies on the dangers of long exploratory missions or a Mars trip.

“Two of the most critical issues are the radiation exposure beyond low Earth orbit and the psychosocial effects of confinement and isolation,” says Carol Scott-Conner at the University of Iowa, chair of the committee behind the report. She calls them “potential showstoppers” that could cause missions to fail.

Astronauts bound for distant destinations would share a small space with a few fellow crew members, and would be away from friends and family for years. They are also likely to be working hard, with their sleep patterns disrupted, and will lack real-time communication with Earth, all of which could affect mental and physical health.

The report points out that it is hard to foresee and study how these and other challenges may aggravate each other. “It seems like all of the risks could potentially interact,” says Scott-Conner.

NASA hopes to use genetic studies to understand each astronaut’s susceptibilities. This may make it possible to tailor space travel to take account of individuals’ needs.